MacTech Blog

May 21

2020: 30 billion-plus devices will wirelessly connect...

ABI Research's (www.abiresearch.com) latest data on the Internet of Everything (IoE) shows that there are more than 10 billion wirelessly connected devices in the market today; with over 30 billion devices expected by 2020.

"The emergence of standardized ultra-low power wireless technologies is one of the main enablers of the IoE, with semiconductor vendors and standards bodies at the forefront of the market push, helping to bring the IoE into reality," says Peter Cooney, practice director. "The year 2013 is seen by many as the year of the Internet of Everything, but it will still be many years until it reaches its full potential. The next five years will be pivotal in its growth and establishment as a tangible concept to the consumer.”

Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, ZigBee, Cellular, RFID, and many other wireless technologies are all important to drive Internet of Everything growth. The long term expansion of...

Organizations across the globe are searching for ways to capture the power of “Big Data” to unlock workforce insights. Unfortunately, many organizations get lost in the fog of big data analysis. The latest release of Mercer Analytics (www.mercer.com) addresses this challenge by leveraging the power of Long Data to unlock insights into an organization’s most valuable asset: its talent.

Long Data, a term coined by mathematician and network scientist Samuel Arbesman, is described as "data sets that have massive historical sweep." In terms of workforce analytics, Big Data provides deep analysis typically focused on a point in time, while Long Data provides insights from stories that have unfolded over time. Thoughtful analysis of Long Data therefore allows organizations to identify, segment and analyze data as part of an ongoing process to drive meaningful results, according to Mercer Analytics. It can also mitigate the...

4G networks are launching fast and moving to a flat and distributed hierarchy. Dictated by performance needs, data management is moving closer to the network edge, according to new data from ABI Research (www.abiresearch.com).

This evolution of the network from a centralized data center to a distributed architecture, can be thought of as a "data center without walls," according to the research group. The historical paradigm for mobile networks is the hierarchical and centralized core network.

The advent of 3G and 4G mobile broadband greatly increases the data traffic to the IP Network and Internet point of presence, says ABI Research. This gives rise to the specialist DPI and Optimization firms, such as Allot and Sandvine, who prosper with high performance, purpose built custom hardware that sits in the data stream for inspection and management.

For the ninth year in a row, CEOs rate Texas as the #1 state in which to do business, according to Chief Executive Magazine's annual Best & Worst States Survey.

Florida, North Carolina, Tennessee and Indiana also made the top five. The states rated worst for business are California, New York, Illinois, Massachusetts and New Jersey.

The Best & Worst States Survey measures the sentiments of CEOs on a range of issues, including regulations, tax policies, workforce quality, educational resources, quality of living and infrastructure. For the 2013 survey, 736 CEOs from across the country evaluated the states between Jan. 16 and Feb. 14, 2013. Ohio was the biggest gainer in this year's survey, rising 13 spots from #35 to #22. \

CEOs say California's poor ranking is the result of a perceived hostility to business, high state taxes and onerous regulations, all of which drive investment, companies and jobs to other states. According to the California...

The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), representing U.S. leadership in semiconductor manufacturing and design, says worldwide sales of semiconductors reached US$23.48 billion for the month of March 2013, an increase of 1.1% from the previous month when sales were $23.23 billion.

Global sales for March 2013 were 0.9% higher than the March 2012 total of $23.28 billion, and total sales through the first quarter of 2013 were 0.9% higher than sales from the first quarter of 2012. All monthly sales numbers represent a three-month moving average.

"Through the first quarter of 2013, the global semiconductor industry has seen modest but consistent growth compared to last year," says Brian Toohey, president and CEO, Semiconductor Industry Association (www.semiconductors.org). "Sales have increased across most end product categories, with memory showing the strongest growth. With recent...

Worldwide service revenue, year-on-year (YoY) for 4Q-2012 grew 2.8% to US$240.5 billion, according to new data from ABI Research (www.abiresearch.com).

Western Europe and Africa’s mobile operator actually demonstrated a contraction in service revenue YoY of 8.2% and 6.9%, respectively, according to the research group. Middle East, Latin America, and Asia-Pacific are still showing reasonably robust rates of growth of 7% to 11%. Eastern Europe and North America, however, are only barely keeping their service revenue growth in positive territory.

"As the underlying lift from accumulating subscribers has matured, carriers are starting to cast around for additional revenue streams that don’t just boost revenues but also profitability," says Jake Saunders, vice president for core forecasting at ABI Research. "There is still tremendous income to be generated from mobile services; the Top 10 Mobile Carriers...

The growth of cloud-based offerings for mobile devices and PCs is leading to the convergence of a single security product. A number of vendors are in fact moving towards this strategy: development of cloud and mobile functionalities for future integration into one multi-device offering.

Forty-seven percent of home entertainment devices (Internet-capable TVs, Blu-ray disc players, video game consoles, and streaming media devices) are currently connected and being used for their online capabilities. But the degree to which these devices are used online varies significantly, according to global information company, The NPD Group (www.npd.com).

Internet capable TVs and Blu-ray disc players are the least likely to actually be connected to the Internet and used for their online features, while streaming media players and video game consoles are connected and used the most.

"While there are more Blu-ray disc players installed and connected to the Internet than streaming media players such as Apple TV and Roku, we expect that to change in the next year," says John Buffone, director, devices, NPD Connected Intelligence. "Streaming media players will exceed the number of installed and Internet connected Blu...

CyberCoders (www.CyberCoders.com), a recruiting firm, says new data reveals the tech skills in the most demand for the highest paying technology jobs.

CyberCoders analyzed more than 10,000 tech companies and their hiring requirements to compile the list of the hottest skills in the tech space. Data from CyberCoders reveals that candidates who have experience with iOS development, cloud computing programming and front-end development skills are most in demand in today’s tech career landscape.

"A common theme among these technology skills is the need for open source, mobile, cloud or big data technologies, like iOS, Azure and Hadoop," says Matt Miller, chief technical officer of CyberCoders.

"Everyday we see the engineers with these skills getting an average of four to five job offers," adds CEO and founder of CyberCoders, Heidi Golledge. "Companies that provide cutting edge technology, great...

Global macroeconomic developments and technological advances, personal computers, and memory markets are expected to drive demand for the global semiconductor market at a CAGR [compound annual growth rate] of 4.3% over hte next five years and reach an estimated US$394 billion in 2017, according to new data from Research and Markets (www.researchandmarkets.com).

The global semiconductor industry is a fragmented market. The Asia Pacific (APAC) region dominates this market and represents approximately three-fourths of the global market. Some of the major players include Intel Corporation, Samsung Electronics, Taiwan Semiconductor, Texas Instruments, and Toshiba Corporation. The combination of factors such as continuing transfer of worldwide electronic equipment production to China and the above-average semiconductor content of that equipment influences market dynamics tremendously, says Research...

International Data Corporation (IDC) has published the "Worldwide Gaming-Optimized Handheld, Smartphone, and Tablet Gaming 2013–2017 Forecast" (http://tinyurl.com/aoc5y6l), a \report on the current state and future direction of smartphone, tablet, and gaming-optimized handheld (GOH) hardware and software.

The forecast details the outlook for Apple, Google/Android, Microsoft, Nintendo, Sony, and a wide range of game developers and publishers from a mobile and portable gaming perspective through 2017.

The GOH market category, typified by Nintendo's 3DS and Sony's PlayStation Vita, has recently been overshadowed by gaming-capable smartphones and tablets and this trend is likely to continue. IDC research shows, for example, that the number of paying smartphone and tablet gamers will surpass the number of paying GOH gamers worldwide in 2013 and rise at a rapid rate through 2017.

This summer, a number of new domain names will likely start appearing on the Web. Generic names such as .apple, .home, .app, .vegas or .music could join such stalwarts as .com, .net and .org.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), a non-profit organization charged with administering the system, has been considering the expansion for several years. University of Houston Law Center professor Jacqueline D. Lipton recently spoke on the topic at the Second Annual International Intellectual Property Law Scholar’s Roundtable at the University of San Diego. Lipton sees the new system as a significant test in the development of innovative systems for global governance of commerce and free speech.

"The new generic Top-Level Domain (gTLD) process is unique in legal and political terms in several respects," she said. "It is the first time ever that words and phrases have been auctioned off to those with the financial wherewithal to pay large sums for...

Consumers in the United States are becoming accustomed to the use of cell phones for financial transactions, which has opened the door for further innovation among service providers, according to mPowa (www.powa.com), a mobile payments company.

Recent data from the Federal Reserve has found that the number of people using their smartphones for financial transactions has increased over the past year. As of November 2012, 28% of all mobile phone users and 48% of smartphone users had used mobile banking in the past 12 months. This is a marked increase on the previous year. A rise in mobile payments was also reported by the research. Financial institutions are already creating new ways to interact with customers through the use of technology now that fewer people feel intimidated by the prospect.

"It is really encouraging to see that consumers in the United States are embracing the use of smartphones for financial...

A sudden spate of email from last October last week should have been a clue that not all was well with the Spy's own company virtual server, where he has most of his mail accounts and the billing system for Arjay Web Services (WebNameHost and WebNameSource). Unfortunately, he failed to investigate until the following day, after customers complained about receiving bills they had already paid, even having their accounts suspended (all they on his big dedicated production server).

A few minutes examining the server revealed it had been rolled back to October 19, 2012. Relying on the actual date and the old database, his WHMCS billing system had dispatched a flock (or is that a gaggle or a murder) of overdue notices (including two customers no longer with the company) and suspended all the accounts it deemed in arrears. Following a herd of trouble tickets, his own ticket to the Atjeu data centre yielded a "yes, we had an outage and...

Organizations should keep in mind that gamification is about more than just the underlying technology, says Ovum (www.ovum.com). By also considering the strategic, organizational, cultural, and psychological aspects of reasonably priced and low-risk gamification applications, businesses can improve productivity.

In new research by Ovum, the global analyst firm shows how enterprises and the public sector can effectively apply gamification for maximum advantage, and recommends that organizations should begin exploring gamification for either customer- or employee-facing uses.

"Gamification can help enhance customer engagement and manage employee behaviors and productivity levels, but there must be clear understanding of how such an initiative will directly benefit the business," says Adam Holtby, a Software & IT Solutions analyst at Ovum. "However, to better support business goals, the mapping of the value of...

According to a new research report from the analyst firm Berg Insight, the total value of the global real-time mobile location-based advertising and marketing (LBA) market will grow from US$526 million in 2012 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 65% to $6.5 billion in 2017.

This will then correspond to 32.8% of all mobile advertising and marketing. This means that location-based advertising and marketing will represent around 5% of digital advertising, or more than 1% of the total global ad spend for all media.

SMS, mobile search and coupons are today important high-volume LBA formats. The ability to precisely target prospective customers using real-time location is currently one of the most promising additions to the advertising toolbox. Key drivers for LBA include the growing adoption of both outdoor and indoor location technologies, as well as the increasing consumer acceptance of location-based services in general, says Rickard Andersson, telecom analyst...

Forrester Consulting examined the total economic impact and potential return on investment (ROI) that can be achievable by developing custom solutions for iPad and iPhone using the FileMaker Platform. Forrester’s interviews with customer’s application development team showed that financial benefits from the FileMaker solutions surpassed costs three months after creation, and two-year ROI of 289%.

Readers of the study may estimate their own costs and benefits from FileMaker solutions compared to existing processes and to alternative tools. The study provides a framework that considers developers’ hourly costs, total time, time...

New data from Parks Associates (www.parksassociates.com) shows that smartphones and tablets are expanding their role in video second-screen experiences, with 22% of U.S. broadband consumers checking or updating their social network on a smartphone or tablet while watching TV.

The research group reports instances of mobile activities while watching TV increases significantly among Millennials, where consumers 18-34 are 70% more likely than other age groups to look up TV listings via a mobile device.

"The mobile device is the implied peripheral in the second-screen concept, but increasingly it is the first screen consumers look at during a video-viewing experience," says Brett Sappington, director, research, Parks Associates. "The growth of OTT (over-the-top) services, pay-TV initiatives such as TV Everywhere, and increases in mobile apps have all contributed to this shift. Eighteen percent of...

Perforce Software (www.perforce.com) has released five tips for software teams to consider this spring when managing their development environments. The suggestions are guidelines for maintaining well-organized codebases and improving development processes.

"Springtime is when software projects begin to pick up steam, but longer days don't have to equal longer delivery cycles," says Randy DeFauw, senior product manager at Perforce. "With a well-maintained and well-managed codebase, companies can have peace of mind while ramping up to launch various projects."

Five tips from Perforce to spring clean codebases:

1. Use one tool to keep track of everything: Studies consistently show that poor communication is a barrier to effective delivery -- and that this obstacle is more challenging among distributed teams. To overcome this hurdle, make sure everyone knows where to look for all important project...

Parks Associates (www.parksassociates.com) has released data showing traditional promotions, such as offering free or discounted premium channels, are the most-effective tool for pay-TV providers in luring back lost subscribers. The research group's consumer research finds 44% of customers who re-subscribed to pay-TV services in the past 18 months said a promotion was a significant reason for their return.

"Most people leave pay-TV services due to economic factors, and these are the main influencers bringing them back," says John Barrett, director, research, Parks Associates. "They are not dissatisfied with Internet video. In fact, many cited Netflix Watch Instantly as a very satisfying experience. These re-subscribers were simply ready to take advantage of a promotion as their own financial situation improved."

Promotions and/or discounts were the leading factors for re-subscribers with...

Organizations across the world are starting to see the need for platforms that help them shorten presentations in dynamic and direct ways. While PowerPoint still has a 95% share of the presentation software market1, forward-thinking companies, like Apple, Amazon and Facebook, have already taken steps to retire their hour-long sales presentations and decks full of tech-speak and industry-speak in favor of new presentation styles, according to Sheffield Marketing Partners.

"This transition has been happening slowly for some time," says Joseph McCormack, Managing director and co-founder of Sheffield Marketing Partners. "The business world relied so heavily on PowerPoint for so long that it almost forgot how to communicate. Now, we’re finally seeing a change. Organizations are opting to simplify. They’re distilling messages into what really matters -- without the extra additives."

This idea is reinforced by burgeoning concepts like "information triage," which remind...

Employers continue to be concerned about the risk and liability posed by employee use of mobile devices while driving on the job. Seven in 10 companies have adopted written policies designed to curb employee distracted driving, but only 32% are confident that current enforcement methods are effective at achieving compliance.

These are among the new findings from Aegis Mobility’s third-annual survey of 547 fleet safety and risk management professionals. Key findings include:
"Hands-Free" and "Zero Tolerance" are most popular policies. Forty-five percent of existing employer policies prohibit all use, except hands-free. Forty-one percent prohibit all use, no exceptions. Twelve percent prohibit texting, emailing and browsing.

Mobile device design is increasingly reliant on integrated platforms, which are chipsets based on combinations of application processor, baseband processor, and wireless connectivity technologies, according to ABI Research (www.abiresearch.com). In 2012, 19% of handsets shipped were based on an integrated platform; set to more than double to 46% in 2018.

"Integrated solutions are used in many handsets from mass-market smartphones to flagship smartphones and will eventually find their way into feature phones," says research director Philip Solis. "One industry dynamic mitigating the need for integrated platforms are device reference designs and related services offered by semiconductor vendors."

One industry dynamic mitigating the need for integrated platforms are device reference designs and related services offered by semiconductor vendors, he adds. Qualcomm certainly benefits from its integrated...

According to a new research report from the analyst firm Berg Insight (www.berginsight.com), the total value of the global real-time mobile location-based advertising and marketing (LBA) market will grow from € 526 million in 2012 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 65% to € 6.5 billion (approximately US$8.5 billion) in 2017.

This will then correspond to 32.8% of all mobile advertising and marketing. This means that location-based advertising and marketing will represent around 5% of digital advertising, or more than 1 percent of the total global ad spend for all media. SMS, mobile search and coupons are today important high-volume LBA formats. The ability to precisely target prospective customers using real-time location is currently one of the most promising additions to the advertising toolbox.

"Key drivers for LBA include the growing adoption of both outdoor and indoor location...

A new report from Juniper Research (www.juniperresearch.com) forecasts that the amount of mobile data traffic generated by smartphones, feature phones and tablets will exceed 90,000 Petabytes by 2017. That's equivalent to almost 42 quadrillion tweets or approximately 7 billion Blu-ray movies.

However, the report finds that only 40% of the data generated by these devices will reach the cellular network by 2017 The majority of the data traffic will be via the Wi-Fi network. The Juniper Research report finds that, despite 2012 being a breakthrough year for 4G LTE, operators will still need offloading technologies such as Wi-Fi and Small cells to augment 4G networks.

"The trend will continue and operators will make use of more integrated units of Wi-Fi and small cells. In the case of indoor cells, where most usage happens, you effectively have Wi-Fi as the pioneer and are in many ways the leader...

Research and Markets (www.researchandmarkets.com) says the global cloud-based gaming market will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 15.9% from now through 2015.

One of the key factors contributing to this market growth is the increasing audience for social media games and mobile games, says the research group. The Global Cloud-based Gaming market has also been witnessing the increasing adoption of next-generation technologies. However, the requirement of high broadband speed could pose a challenge to the growth of this market, according to Research and Markets.

According to their report: ''Cloud-based gaming provides large opportunities to publishers for promotions and marketing. One such opportunity is the free-to-play business model, which is also known as the freemium model. It consists of the consumer playing the core loop of a game for free, but then eventually paying for...

Mobile publishers such as Facebook, Pandora, and Twitter are rapidly taking over the mobile display advertising market in the United States.

Where in past years, ad networks such as Google, Millennial Media, and Apple received most of the spending on mobile display ads, now publishers control the segment, thanks to very strong sales growth in the past year. Facebook, Pandora, Twitter, and The Weather Channel all registered strong sales in 2012 and all (with the exception of Pandora) popped onto the scene from zero sales in 2011. As a result, publishers controlled 52% of U.S. mobile display ad spending in 2012, compared to the 39% they received in 2011. This is one of the results from a newly published report from the International Data Corporation (IDC) research group (www.idc.com).

"Mobile ad networks are losing market share to publishers, and we expect them to lose even more going forward," says Karsten Weide,...

Univa (www.univa.com), a data center automation company, has announced the findings of its "2013 Open Source Software Use" survey.

Conducted online by uSAMP, the report finds that Free and Open Source software (FOSS) is prominent with businesses today with 76% of companies using FOSS, while 75% have experienced a problem with using it. Businesses are relying heavily on unsupported Open Source solutions; therefore 64% say they would pay for supported software should it solve their problems.

A lack of enterprise-grade support is the largest problem FOSS users experience in their company with 27% of respondents raising this as their top concern. Other troublesome issues include usability (24%), maintenance (20%), crashes (19%), bugs (18%), downtime (16%), loss off productivity (16%) and interoperability (16%).

Mobile health (mHealth) applications are rapidly evolving to take advantage of new image support capabilities in mobile networks and devices, according to a new report from Strategy Analytics (www.strategyanalytics.com).

mHealth image-based applications range from remote interpretation of blood samples taken in a remote jungle clinic to sending fetal sonograms to the smartphones of friends and relatives. Remote diagnostics has seen significant growth in recent years, as it is a way to get around shortages or poor distribution of specialists, according to Strategy Analytics. In Egypt, for example, a partnership of Qualcomm, Mobinil, Click Diagnostics and the Ministry of Health allowed remote health clinics to send smartphone-captured images of skin conditions for diagnosis, by some of the country's few dermatologists.

"Smartphones and tablets have improved so much as image capture and...

3D printing is disrupting the design, prototyping and manufacturing processes in a wide range of industries, according to Gartner (www.gartner.com).

Enterprises should start experimenting with 3D printing technology to improve traditional product design and prototyping, with the potential to create new product lines and markets, according to the research group. 3D printing will also become available to consumers via kiosks or print-shop-style services, creating new opportunities for retailers and other businesses.

"3D printing is a technology accelerating to mainstream adoption," says Pete Basiliere, research director at Gartner. "It is a technology of great interest to the general media, with demonstrations on science shows, on gadget websites and in other areas. From descriptions of exciting current uses in medical, manufacturing and other industries to futuristic ideas -- such as using 3D printers on...

Kaazing, pioneers of HTML5 WebSocket and the leading web and mobile communication platform for live data delivery, have announced the findings of its annual Live Web and Mobile Communication research study.

The survey, which was conducted in March 2013 with nearly 300 global IT professionals and developers worldwide, found that nearly nine out of 10 (86%) respondents consider real-time web and data communication to be a priority for them in 2013, with 81% saying they will apply that priority to their mobile strategy. Within the next 12 months respondents plan to enable two-way, real-time web applications, ranked as follows:

A new report from Juniper Research (www.juniperresearch.com) forecasts a rapid uptake of 4G LTE mobile broadband technology in the next two years, with the subscriber number doubling from an estimated 105 million subscribers this year to nearly 220 million in 2014.

The new report finds that, with 2012 being a breakthrough year for LTE and deployments gaining momentum, subscribers will begin to sign up for services in volume this year (2013), but will still have a very limited global reach. The emerging factor that will and is driving the consumer take-up in the forecast and beyond is the embedding of LTE technology in consumer devices.

With LTE roll-outs gaining momentum, primarily in developed markets, Juniper Research acknowledges that while migration to 4G is expected to follow an evolutionary path, there is a genuine opportunity for many operators in developing countries to completely...

The Internet content delivery market will undergo huge changes over the next decade as major telcos and Internet giants -- including Google, Amazon, Netflix and Microsoft -- wrangle over the continuing over-the-top (OTT) Internet traffic content boom, according to a new Informa Telecoms & Media report Internet Innovation.

The Internet Innovation report details how the Internet giants are trying to fulfill their ambitions of becoming globally dominant digital content providers by building their own Internet infrastructure that will provide them with low-cost high-quality digital content distribution.

Google, Amazon, Netflix and Microsoft are working towards delivering their digital content in premium condition to their customers using techniques such as edge caching on operator networks and using Internet Exchange Points (IXPs). By building out their own extensive Internet distribution networks, these Internet giants also hope to alleviate the telcos...

Kaazing (www.kaazing.com), a web and mobile communication platform for live data delivery, has announced the findings of its annual "Modern Architectures for Mobile Enterprises Survey."

The survey, which was conducted in March 2013 with nearly 300 global IT professionals and developers worldwide, found that nearly nine out of 10 (86%) respondents consider real-time web and data communication to be a priority for them in 2013, with 81% saying they will apply that priority to their mobile strategy.

Infonetics Research (www.infonetics.com) says global smartphone market totaled $247 billion in 2012, up 51% from 2011 -- and that the number of LTE smartphones increased by 151%.

Owing to the introduction of the iPhone 5, Apple regained its lead in smartphone revenue market share in 4Q12 with 37%. It was followed by Samsung with 29%; Samsung maintains its lead in smartphone unit share.

Meanwhile, embedded cards declined as the more functional tablet segment overshadowed embedded PCs and mobile internet devices (MIDs) Infonetics expects the number of global mobile broadband subscribers (phone and PC) to grow from 1.2 billion in 2012 to close to 3 billion by...

Global mobile data service revenue, made up of mobile internet and messaging revenue, will rise by 21.4% between 2012 and 2014 to represent 40.4% of the US$1 trillion mobile customers will be spending on their mobile phone services, according to new data from ABI Research (www.abiresearch.com).

Thanks to strong commitments to LTE network deployment in Latin America and Africa, not just the developed markets, growth rates in the regions will be substantially faster as the increase in usage outstrips mobile data pricing decline. This represents a significant opportunity for regional mobile content and application developers, which will stimulate a very nascent mobile apps and content market-place, says ABI Research. North America will be the first region to see mobile data service revenue eclipse voice revenue in 2016.

"By offering unlimited voice calls and texts, while making data the only component...

A new report from Juniper Research (www.juniperresearch.com) has found that advancements in entertainment head-units and higher smartphone penetration will result in app-capability reaching a fifth of all consumer vehicles in the developed markets of North America and Western Europe by 2017.

The success of new standards such as MirrorLink will be instrumental in creating the foundations for the connected car ecosystem to flourish, finds the report. Though Juniper Research also forecasts robust growth in more traditional embedded consumer telematics services, the success of smartphone tethering and in-vehicle apps is expected to exert downward pressure on the price of vehicle manufacturers’ own embedded telematics infotainment services.

The report notes that "big data" derived from telematics service provision is also likely to emerge as an unexpected revenue driver for telematics companies...

° That Apple has become a third bidder in the suddenly interesting battle to gain control of Dell. Michael Dell himself began the process by trying to take the company private under his own personal leadership, but has hit a roadblock in the form of a second suitor who would likely show him the door. Apple was said to be ready to close the company, wind up its affairs, turn the assets into cash, and give the money back to the shareholders.

That Apple intends to buy Sony, Sharp, Panasonic, and/or RIM out of petty cash. A far better bet is the acquisition of IBM. After all, Apple makes money from computing devices and software, whereas IBM makes most of its money showing business people how to use them. "No one needs to explain our devices to seven-year-olds, but there are people out there who need a helping hand," said Apple's manager of acquisitions. "A...

Mobile gamers and social networkers spend the most time playing games or posting updates during TV prime time -- weekdays from 8-10 pm -- according to an hour-by-hour analysis of Arbitron Mobile smartphone panelists (www.abitron.com) in the United States during the fourth quarter 2012.

Five functions -- –voice calls, messaging, browsing, social networking, and gaming -- dominate weekday smartphone use by Arbitron Mobile panelists in the U.S. The average time per hour for each of the five top smartphone functions rises sharply until the 9-10 am hour when messaging, browsing, social networking, and gaming enter a late morning plateau.

The plateau exception: mobile voice calls. Average time per hour continues to increase until noon, when it sags slightly over the lunch break, and then accelerates again to a 5 pm peak. Both mobile social media and mobile gaming see a slow increase in their average time per hour...

New online research from Parks Associates (www.parksassociates.com) reveals consumers want to be able to access online video as part of their pay-TV service.

More than one-half of U.S. broadband households would like to have a YouTube on-demand feature with their pay-TV services. The new research is based on multiple nationwide surveys of over 2,000 U.S. broadband households and examines the impact of carriage disputes, which have prompted pay-TV providers like DirecTV, Dish Network, and Time Warner to drop channels such as AMC, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, and MTV as part of ongoing fee and licensing struggles between service and content providers.

"U.S. pay-TV operators enjoy higher ARPU [average revenue per user] than their counterparts in other countries, allowing them to test and deploy a variety of new services, although many international providers are making similar moves," Brett...

The results from the Strategy Analytics consumer survey (www.strategyanalytics.com), conducted in the US, UK and China, showed that smartphone owners were much more likely than feature phone owners to use their devices either while shopping or for shopping.

Usage at home demonstrates that smartphones are frequently used for research on products. Sixty-one percent of smartphone owners use the device for shopping at home. Usage while out and about shows a very similar pattern to usage at home, although slightly more users overall have used their smartphone while out and about (67% compared to 61%). The least popular shopping activity on all devices is the actual point of purchase itself.

"Brick and mortar retailers are not waiting for carriers or OEMs [original equipment manufacturers] to roll out mobile payments and are leveraging mobile solutions already in the market, such as mobile...

Total mobile data traffic had amounted to 13,412 petabytes by the end of 2012; an increase of 69% year-on-year, according to ABI Research (www.abiresearch.com).

3G data usage occupied 46% of the total with an increase of 130% year-on-year. 4G LTE traffic is accelerating, with a growth rate of 207% in 2013 compared to 99% for 3G traffic.

According to ABI Research, underpinning mobile data usage are smartphone apps; their downloads, and the traffic usage they generate, has become a significant contributor to mobile data traffic. Smartphone app downloads were 36.2 billion for 2012, up 88% compared to 2011.

Asia-Pacific has overtaken North America (25%), with 39% of total smartphone app downloads. IP/web browsing constitutes 51% of total mobile data traffic in 2012. However, by 2018, large mobile device screens and 4G data-speeds will stimulate mobile video streaming/downloads to account for 56...

The improvised 3D experience in smartphones, tablets, notebooks, computers, cars, etc. is set to revolutionize the mobile device market and other GPS-enabled device market by broadening the horizons for the users to locate things easily using any device, according to new data from Reportlinker.com, a web site that covers "industry reports, company data and country profiles."

The past decade witnessed a giant leap in various industries, with 3D technology being implemented in various electronic devices and other objects. The need for 3D mapping arose after an attempt to make 2D maps more advanced and look more real. This was done by introducing sensors, cameras, scanners, GPS components, and other acquisition devices to capture the real time 3D images which are created into models incorporated into maps. This type of technology is often used in modern computer programs to provide a lifelike view of a place or thing on a map.

Market research firm Infonetics Research has released excerpts from a Mobile Spectrum market size and forecast report, which analyzes radio frequency spectrum allocation and needs in the world’s top economies.

"Seven years ago the ITU predicted the world would need twice as much radio frequency spectrum as is allocated now, and that was even before the advent of the data-hungry iPhone," reports Stéphane Téral, principal analyst for mobile infrastructure and carrier economics at Infonetics Research. "But if the ITU forecast had held true, all mobile networks with significant mobile broadband usage would have crashed by now."

HSPA+ and LTE are two of the primary reasons operators have been able to squeeze more and more bits out of limited spectrum, Téral adds. HSPA/HSPA+ and LTE improve spectral efficiency so significantly that the need for spectrum has been greatly reduced, often by at least half. LTE technology is not only resistant to interference between cells but...

Many people would take an unreasonably long time to recover their data if their IT systems were to go down, and tape backups still have an important part to play. These are the findings of a survey carried out for Norwegian storage experts.

Proact (www.proact.eu) charts Norwegian companies’ attitudes towards information management every year. This survey, carried out by an independent body, involves telephone interviews with 200 decision makers and provides an insight into what Norwegian companies are thinking as regards storage and information management.

Seven in 10 respondents reckon that their departments are receiving enough resources to meet demands in terms of quality and uptime. Six in 10 are concerned about what business information employees can store using external cloud services such as Dropbox, Google Drive, Apple iCloud and suchlike. Fifty-five percent have refused to allow staff to connect private...

Two major "unseen" risks threaten businesses that use data centers -- the "data factories" that power "the Cloud," the government and every major business. A peer group of senior data center professionals last week discovered that these major risk factors are often not considered until after a data centre has been built -- in a sub-optimal country, with very serious adverse implications.

This was one of the major surprise findings when 70 C-level executives -- between them responsible for tens of thousands of data centers around the globe -- met together with legal and tax specialists to pool expertise on the risks that face multinational companies from the design, location and operation of these business-critical systems.

Nicola Hayes, managing director of research analysts DCD Intelligence -- which planned the event based on their recent research findings -- said, data centers now operate just about everything we do -- from running our offices factories and...

Over the next five years, the worldwide base of mobile subscriptions will rise to 8.9 billion, and four out of five of these will be in developing countries.

According to "Worldwide Cellular User Forecasts, 2012-2017," the most recent forecast from Strategy Analytics' Wireless Operator Strategies (WOS) service, subscriptions in developing countries will grow at a compound annual rate of 7.5%, substantially faster than the 2.8% growth that will be seen in developed countries.

With worldwide mobile service revenue growth slowing to about 2% per year through 2017, developing countries like Nigeria, where revenue is growing at twice that rate, can be very attractive markets to international players. Phil Kendall , director of WOS, notes that "the Middle East and Africa will generate an impressive 28% revenue growth between 2012 and 2017, confirming its significance to investors from outside the region such as Airtel, Orange and Vodafone."

SAP AG (www.sap.com) has announced the findings of its third consecutive GSMA Mobile World Congress survey, which found that 53% of industry leaders believed that improving customers' retail experience would be essential to creating a successful mobile payments scheme.

The survey is aimed at addressing top issues facing mobile commerce service providers and reflects the sentiments of mobile operators, fixed telecommunication providers, over-the-top (OTT) players and other global mobile industry executives.

Survey results revealed that the "secret sauce" for creating a better retail experience includes location-based point-of-sale offerings (24%), point-of-sale services such as near field communication (NFC) (28%) and facilitating universal acceptance of mobile payments (25%). Less popular services included targeted offers based on consumer preferences and shopping history (12%) and integration with mass transit (...

Revenues from mobile content, monetized through direct carrier billing, is expected to rise from US$2 billion last year to more than $13 billion by 2017, according to a report from Juniper Research (www.juniperresearch.com).

The report notes that operator storefronts and portals now accounted for just 6% of content downloads worldwide, with Google Play and Apple’s App Store now comprising nearly 70% between them. Indeed, the report noted that the increasing popularity of OTT (Over The Top) stores had led to many operators closing their own storefronts.

However, the report found that by offering carrier billing to third-party storefronts, operators could more than offset the continued decline in portal revenues. According to Juniper Research, storefronts that have already integrated carrier billing solutions have seen a 5-6x increase in conversion rates compared with credit card billing,...

Europe's leading cable companies score higher than their rivals in customer satisfaction with broadband service, but trail them in television service, according to the latest research from Strategy Analytics' ConsumerMetrix service (www.strategyanalytics.com).

The report, "European Cable: Customer Satisfaction and Profiles," found that customers of cable companies give them a net promoter satisfaction rating of 66% for their broadband service but only 37% for their television service. In spite of this, satisfaction with both television and broadband cable services improved during 2012, and improved significantly since 2010.

"The European cable industry, like its US counterpart, faces the challenge of striking the right strategic balance between its highly profitable broadband services and its more marginal television activities," notes David Mercer, vice president, Digital Consumer...

Software Updates via MacUpdate

Vienna 3.0.6 :5eaf312: - RSS and Atom ne...

Vienna is a freeware and Open-Source RSS/Atom newsreader with article storage and management via a SQLite database, written in Objective-C and Cocoa, for the OS X operating system. It provides... Read more

Kodi 15.1.rc1 - Powerful media center to...

Kodi (was XBMC) is an award-winning free and open-source (GPL) software media player and entertainment hub that can be installed on Linux, OS X, Windows, iOS, and Android, featuring a 10-foot user... Read more

Bookends 12.5.8 - Reference management a...

Bookends is a full-featured bibliography/reference and information-management system for students and professionals.
Access the power of Bookends directly from Mellel, Nisus Writer Pro, or MS Word (... Read more

Chromium 44.0.2403.125 - Fast and stable...

Chromium is an open-source browser project that aims to build a safer, faster, and more stable way for all Internet users to experience the web.
Version 44.0.2403.125:
This release contains a number... Read more

iMazing 1.2.2 - Complete iOS device mana...

iMazing (was DiskAid) is the ultimate iOS device manager with capabilities far beyond what iTunes offers. With iMazing and your iOS device (iPhone, iPad, or iPod), you can:
Copy music to and from... Read more

Audio Hijack 3.2.0 - Record and enhance...

Audio Hijack (was Audio Hijack Pro) drastically changes the way you use audio on your computer, giving you the freedom to listen to audio when you want and how you want. Record and enhance any audio... Read more

FontExplorer X Pro 5.0.1 - Font manageme...

FontExplorer X Pro is optimized for professional use; it's the solution that gives you the power you need to manage all your fonts.
Now you can more easily manage, activate and organize your... Read more

Calcbot 1.0.2 - Intelligent calculator a...

Calcbot is an intelligent calculator and unit converter for the rest of us. Featuring an easy-to-read history tape, expression view, intuitive conversion, and much more!
Features
History Tape -... Read more

MTR 5.0.0.1 - The Mac's oldest and...

MTR (was MacTheRipper)--the Mac's oldest and smartest DVD-backup app--is now updated to version 5.001
MTR -- the complete toolbox, not a one-trick, point-and-click extractor. MTR is intended for... Read more

LibreOffice 4.4.5.2 - Free, open-source...

LibreOffice is an office suite (word processor, spreadsheet, presentations, drawing tool) compatible with other major office suites. The Document Foundation is coordinating development and... Read more

Bandai Namco has released Pac-Man Championship Edition DX on iOS and Android, which features the classic arcade gameplay that we've all grown to love.
Pac-Man Championship Edition DX can be enjoyed in much shorter bursts than the arcade versions... | Read more »

Angel Stone is Fincon's follow up to the massively successful Hello Hero and is out now on iOS and Android.
You play as a member of The Resistance, a group of mighty human warriors who have risen up in defiance of the Demon horde threatening to... | Read more »

The not exactly rumors were true and the birds are back. Angry Birds 2 has come to the App Store and the world will... well I suppose it'll still be the same, but now we have more bird-flinging options!
[Read more]
| Read more »

You Could Design Your Own Card for Chain...

If you've ever wanted to create your own item, weapon, trap, or even monster for Chainsaw Warrior: Lords of the Night, this is your chance. Auroch Digital is currently holding a contest so that fans can fight to the death (not really) to see which... | Read more »

Bitcoin Billionaire is Going Back in Tim...

If you thought you managed to buy everything there is to buy in Bitcoin Billionaire and make all the money, well you though wrong. Those of you who made it far enough might remember investing in time travel - and it looks like that investment is... | Read more »

Domino Drop (Games)

Domino Drop 1.0
Device: iOS Universal
Category: Games
Price: $1.99, Version: 1.0 (iTunes)
Description:
Domino Drop is a delightful new puzzle game with dominos and gravity!Learn how to play it in a minute, master it day by day.Your... | Read more »

Best Buy has iPad Air 2s on sale for up to $100 off MSRP on their online store for a limited time. Choose free shipping or free local store pickup (if available). Sale prices available for online... Read more

B&H Photo has the 13″ 1.6GHz/128GB MacBook Air on sale for $899.99 including free shipping plus NY tax only. Their price is $100 off MSRP, and it’s the lowest price available for this model.... Read more

Worldwide Tablet Market Decline Continues, Ap...

The worldwide tablet market declined -7.0% year-over-year in the second quarter of 2015 (2Q15) with shipments totaling 44.7 million units according to preliminary data from the International Data... Read more

The Apple Store has Apple Certified Refurbished iPad Air 2s available for up to $140 off the price of new models. Apple’s one-year warranty is included with each model, and shipping is free:
- 128GB... Read more

Updated Apple iPad Price Trackers

We’ve updated our iPad Air Price Tracker and our iPad mini Price Tracker with the latest information on prices and availability from Apple and other resellers.
Read more

Apple refurbished 2014 13-inch 128GB MacBook...

The Apple Store has Apple Certified Refurbished 2014 13″ MacBook Airs available starting at $759. An Apple one-year warranty is included with each MacBook, and shipping is free:
- 13″ 1.4GHz/128GB... Read more

Apple’s Education discount saves up to $300 o...

Purchase a new Mac or iPad at The Apple Store for Education and take up to $300 off MSRP. All teachers, students, and staff of any educational institution qualify for the discount. Shipping is free,... Read more

Jobs Board

*Apple* Retail - Multiple Positions (US) - A...

Sales Specialist - Retail Customer Service and Sales Transform Apple Store visitors into loyal Apple customers. When customers enter the store, you're also the
Read more

MacTech is a registered trademark of Xplain Corporation. Xplain, "The journal of Apple technology", Apple Expo, Explain It, MacDev, MacDev-1, THINK Reference, NetProfessional, Apple Expo, MacTech Central, MacTech Domains, MacNews, MacForge, and the MacTutorMan are trademarks or service marks of Xplain Corporation. Sprocket is a registered trademark of eSprocket Corporation. Other trademarks and copyrights appearing in this printing or software remain the property of their respective holders. Not responsible for typographical errors.

All contents are Copyright 1984-2011 by Xplain Corporation. All rights reserved. Theme designed by Icreon.